Chaos
by bethygreene
Summary: When all hell breaks loose at the prison and The Governor destroys their home, Daryl and Beth get separated. With the help of his brother, and the help of her sister and Glenn, Daryl and Beth will stop at nothing to find their way back to each other. Season 4 mid-season finale AU. Bethyl.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I give you yet another bethyl story! This will be set during the season four mid-season finale, during the fall of the prison. A few minor changes, though. Merle is still alive. And Daryl and Beth have been together for the past year. This chapter is kind of short, but they will get longer, I promise. :) I will try to update this story at least once a week for you guys. Okay, okay. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review. I love hearing what you all have to say. Xoxo

**Chapter 1**

* * *

As soon as Daryl saw the katana slice through Hershel's neck, he knew that it was all over. An all out war started and he couldn't think straight. His insticts kicked in and he just started shooting at anything and everything. It was when he heard Beth scream that he was jerked back into reality. He dodged bullet after bullet and ran as fast as his legs would carry him to get to her.

She was shooting at everything in her path. She didn't have any specific targets. Like Daryl, her insticts kicked in before she could process what she was really doing. The Governor had already taken so much from them, and everyone else. Why did they have to take her father too? Her father was a good man. He didn't deserve to die. Especially not like that. This new world that they lived in was so completely fucked. And as soon as her father's body fell to the ground that's when she knew. That's when she knew that the world was too far gone.

"Beth!" She heard Daryl call out her name but couldn't stop shooting. It was almost as if that gun in her hand was the only thing keeping her from collapsing to the ground.

The fences were coming down and walkers were coming over. They couldn't stay there anymore. Beth couldn't believe it. Just yesterday she was playing outside with Judith and singing her songs that she'd written over time. She figured that if she couldn't hear music anymore, she'd just make her own. And now the place that she finally felt safe enough to settle down in, their home, was being taken away. The dead taking it over, she could've handled. But people? It took everything in her not to break down right then and there.

"Beth!" Daryl had called her name several times before he pulled her away from the fence and shook her by her shoulders. "You still with me?"

She just collapsed into him and became a sobbing mess. Daryl wanted so desperately to hold her and tell her that he was right there and that everything was going to be okay. He couldn't do that, though. He had to focus on getting her, and everyone else, out of there safely. So he just stood her upright and looked into her eyes.

"Beth, listen to me. I need you to get everyone on that bus, including yourself. You hear me? I gotta go find Merle and I'll be right there. Now go!" He gave her a gentle shove toward the bus.

She shook her head and looked at him with sad, scared eyes. "No! Daryl, I'm not gonna leave you!"

"We all got jobs to do, remember? You told me that. Now go, Greene! I'll be right back!" Daryl didn't give her time to argue. Instead, he just gave her a short, hard kiss to the lips insuring that he was telling the truth. After that, he raced off to find his brother.

"Merle!" He screamed as loud as he could, hoping that by some miracle in all of this chaos, he would hear him and come running. He took a quick look back to make sure that Beth was doing what she was supposed to. And she was.

Daryl dodged walker after walker, and person after person. When he finally did find Merle, he was beating one of the guys on The Governer's side into the ground. Daryl quickly put an arrow between the guy's eyes and tugged Merle up by his shirt.

"We gotta go! C'mon, the bus is waitin' for us!" Daryl shouted, but Merle cut him off and pointed his index finger forward.

Daryl turned around to see the bus driving off. He nearly fell to his knees on the ground, but instead, he ran as fast as he could after that damn bus. Before he got too far, though, Merle ran after him and quickly got a tight grip on his baby brother, holding him back.

"Let go of me, dammit! Beth is on that bus!" Daryl kicked and fought as hard as he could to try and get his brother to release his grip.

Merle just shook his head and tightened his grip. "We'll figure it out! Ain't no sense in chasin' after a bus that's going a million miles faster than you are!"

Once the bus was out of sight, Daryl gave in and stopped fighting. He had tears streaming down his face. Normally he'd try to hide his tears from his brother, but this time he didn't care. He'd lost more in the last thirty minutes than he'd ever lost in his entire life. He didn't know where to go from here. Truth be told, he wasn't so sure he wanted to go anywhere at all. He had half a mind to stay and let the walkers devour him. And had it not have been for Merle, he most likely would have. He wasn't sure what to do or where to turn. One thing he was sure of, though, was that she was gone. And he'd do everything in his power to get her back.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, so I've decided to alternate between Daryl and Beth's point of view. This chapter will be about Beth and what she's going through, and the next chapter will be about Daryl and what he's going through, and so on. I didn't plan on updating this so quickly, but I just couldn't wait! Enjoy! And don't forget to review and let me know what you think. Xo

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Beth waited as long as she could for Daryl to get back with Merle. She was sitting down in a seat with Maggie and Glenn, impatiently looking out the window for any sign of Daryl and his brother. She kept reassuring herself that he'd be back soon. Maggie tried her best to comfort her sister and keep her from panicking but she failed. When the bus started moving, Beth jumped up from her seat.

"Stop! Daryl's not back yet!"

The woman driving the bus yelled back at her. "Beth, we can't wait any longer! Our back end is being loaded with bullets!"

Beth wasn't about to leave without him. "Then I'm getting off. Stop the bus!"

She ran toward the front of the bus as it made its way to a hault. Maggie quickly ran after her and grabbed her by her arm before she had the chance to get out of the door. "What are you doin'? Are you crazy? You can't go out there alone. It's a death sentence, Beth!"

Beth shook her head and jerked her arm free from her sister's grasp. "I'm sorry, Maggie, but I can't just leave him here! I _can't_! If it were Glenn, you'd do the same thing! Now let me go! We all got jobs to do, remember? And this is mine."

Maggie grabbed onto Beth's arm again, this time, though, her grip was tighter. But she didn't argue with her. She couldn't. Because she knew that Beth was right. So she let her arm go without a fight and simply said, "Fine, but we're goin' with you."

Beth gave her a nod and watched as her sister ran to get Glenn. Glenn was still recovering from the lethal sickness that had been going around at the prison for the past couple of weeks, so he was moving kind of slowly. Beth was growing impatient. She needed to get off of that bus and go find Daryl.

When Maggie finally got Glenn to the front, Beth was already off of the bus and running in the direction that Daryl had gone in.

"Beth, slow down! Glenn can't move that fast!" Maggie shouted.

Beth didn't stop running as she yelled back. "Just stay there, I'll be _right _back!"

Beth didn't wait for her sister to respond. She just kept running. She called out Daryl's name so loud that by the third time, her throat was burning with pain. She searched everywhere and saw no sign of him. She was filled with emotions. Mostly worry, hurt, and frustration. As if losing her father and their home wasn't bad enough, she'd lost Daryl too. She was running on pure adrenaline and couldn't stop her legs from moving forward. It was when she heard the moans and saw the herd of walkers moving her way that she stopped. Her mind jumped to the worst possible conclusion. He'd been bitten. Or worse. She quickly pushed that idea out of her head. As much as she wanted to find a way around them, she knew she couldn't. Every path was blocked. And if they weren't blocked, they were filled with walkers. So she just let out a loud, frustrated scream and ran back to her sister and Glenn.

Maggie's jaw dropped when she saw that Daryl wasn't with Beth when she returned. She immediately ran to her sister and wrapped her arms around her and spoke with a comforting tone. "Beth, we'll find him. But right now, we _have _to go."

Beth was hyperventilating and couldn't form words. But she tried anyway. "T-there w-was a h-herd. W-what if h-he-"

Maggie cut her off and shook her head. "Don't think like that."

Beth just gave her sister a nod before saying, "C'mon, we gotta go," and running toward the road.

Maggie let Glenn use her for support as they ran behind Beth.

* * *

They walked for a long time before they found an abandoned car on the side of the road. It was dark and the car would have to do for the night. Beth searched the car for supplies and anything else that they could use. Luckily, she found two packs of m&amp;m's in the back pocket of the driver's side seat. Stale, no doubt, but it was something. She also found a half-full water bottle in the floor behind the passenger's seat. There was a pocket knife in the floor as well. It wasn't much, but put a little force behind it and shove it into a walker's skull and it'd get the job done. She put the knife in her pocket before walking over to Maggie and Glenn, who had managed to start a small fire.

Beth handed them a pack of the m&amp;m's and sat down beside of her sister.

"The car'll have to do for the night. Wasn't much in it, though. It looked like it'd already been scavenged. But I found this." She pulled the small knife out of her pocket.

Maggie gave her a small smile as she opened the pack of m&amp;m's and poured some in her hand before reaching the bag to Glenn.

"You know he got out, right?" Maggie said, glancing at Beth.

Beth nodded slowly, staring a hole through the fire. "Yeah, I know. I just wish he'd have gotten out with me."

"We'll find him, Beth. Besides, he can track, right? Maybe you could leave him a trail or somethin' to help him find you."

Beth wanted to kick herself for not thinking of something like that. She gave her sister a nod before standing up and walking over to the car. She searched all over the inside for anything to write with. When she found a sharpie, she smiled for the first time since shit hit the fan back at the prison. She took the cap off of the marker and wrote on the car's winshield in big, bold letters before putting it in her pocket and taking a step back to admire her work.

_Daryl, go straight. _  
_ -Beth. _

She smiled as she thought about what he might say when he saw this. He'd find her. They'd find each other. He was okay and he was out there right now looking for her. She knew it. She felt it. What was the point in living if you didn't have hope? She looked up at the night sky with a smile on her face and mumbled quietly. "See you soon, Mr. Dixon."

They slept in the car that night. Beth lying in the back seat, Maggie in the driver's seat, and Glenn in the passenger's seat. Not the most comfortable place to sleep, but they were more comfortable than they would have been had they not found this car and ended up sleeping on the ground.

The next morning they started traveling again. They were out of m&amp;m's and water, and they needed more food if they were going to stay alive. They needed weapons, too. They also needed something to carry all of it in.

It was starting to really dawn on Beth that Daryl wasn't with her anymore. When she woke up, she still expected to be waking up in her cell back at the prison with him right beside of her. And when she took a look at her surroundings, she was quickly let down. She didn't really want to move. She wanted to stay there and wait for Daryl to find her. She couldn't do that, though. Maggie and Glenn wanted to go and Beth knew that they needed to, so she didn't even bother suggesting that they stay in the car for a few more days. It would've been a selfish thing for her to do, and she knew that.

It was hours before they finally came across a small, abandoned store. Every other place that they came across was overrun and there were too many walkers for them to even attempt making their way through. And that was just based on what they saw on the outside. It was hard telling what there would be on the inside. So they quietly made their way passed and finally found this place.

It had already been scavenged through, for the most part. There were two walkers on the inside but it wasn't anything that they couldn't handle. Maggie and Beth quickly took them out and went on about their business. Toward the back, there was a rack with some overly-priced drawstring backpacks on it. Beth grabbed three of them. She kept one for herself and distributed the other two between Maggie and Glenn.

Beth started going up and down the aisles searching for anything that they could use. When she got to the toiletries, she saw that the toilet paper had barely been touched. She shrugged and grabbed two rolls and threw them into her backpack. In the next aisle over she managed to find canned food. She shoved as much of it as she could into her bag without even bothering to look at what she was grabbing. You couldn't be a picky eater in this world and expect to survive. Next, she went to the cooler section of the gas station. There, she grabbed as many bottles of water as she could find, along with a few bottles of soda. Her bag was getting full and she knew that she wouldn't be able to fit much else into it. But while she was at it, she decided to grab one of the small journals that were on sale near the register and two pens. If there was one good thing about this new world, it was that everything was free.

She was just about to go and find Maggie and Glenn when she saw the small amount of clothes that were on display in the back of the store. She took a few moments to debate on whether she should go browse through them or not and eventually decided that she should. A yellow polo was the first thing that she saw. It was a size bigger than what she needed but it didn't matter. It was something new and something that didn't have dirt and walker blood all over it. She quickly changed out of her old shirt and into the new one before grabbing one of the grey cardigans on the rack beside of it and throwing it on as well. She grabbed one of the cardigans for Maggie, but hers was black. It may have been the end of the world but she wasn't about to wear the same thing as her sister if she didn't have to.

Maggie and Glenn approached her. Bags full and on their backs and ready to go.

"Find anythin'?" Maggie asked, her eyes shooting to the black cardigan in Beth's hands.

"Mhm. Food, water, soda, and I even found toilet paper!" Beth exclaimed, holding out the cardigan for her sister.

Maggie laughed and took the cardigan and slipped into it. "Thank you."

"It's weird, isn't it? How excited we get over toilet paper." Glenn said, shaking his head.

"It's the little things that keep us goin', Glenn." Beth said. Her mind flashed back to Daryl as she thought of all the little things that he'd done for her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Daryl and Merle walked in silence as they made their way away from what was left of the prison. Well, Daryl was silent anyway. Merle practically talked his ear off the whole damn time. And as bad as Daryl wanted to tell him to shut the hell up, he just let him ramble on because he knew that telling him to shut up would just make him want to talk even more. After about four hours of talking and getting no responses other than an occasional head nod from Daryl, Merle was beginning to get annoyed.

"What the hell's the matter with you, baby brother? Cat got your tongue?" Merle said, laughing at his own joke.

Daryl just shook his head and didn't look up from the ground.

"Oh, I see," Merle said, in a singing tone, "you're not talkin' 'cause you lost everythang."

Daryl took in a deep breath and tried not to let his brother's words or tone of voice get to him. Of course that's why he wasn't talking. He'd lost his home, his family, and his girl. Merle was blood and he knew that. But over the past four years Daryl learned that family didn't always have to be blood. It could be love, too. He loved those people; his family. Although he'd never told any of them that. He didn't tell them because when he was growing up if he told anybody that he loved them, they'd leave. Or he'd get called a pussy for showing too many emotions. He hadn't even said it to Beth. Beth had said it to him, but each time he'd just mumble something like, _"Mhm, me too." _ If there was one thing that he regretted, it was not telling her that he loved her. Because truth be told, he did. More than anything. And now she was gone, and he was afraid that he'd never get the chance to tell her.

Merle waved his hand in front of his brother's face. "You still with me, princess?"

Daryl just scoffed and pushed his hand away. "You're a real pain in my ass, you know that?"

A response from Daryl made Merle grin his famous toothy grin. "Mhm. Take pride in it, too."

Daryl just rolled his eyes and said, "'Course you do."

It was a very unusual thing for Merle to take things seriously. But for some reason, his tone of voice changed and it made Daryl look him right in the eye as he spoke.

"We'll find 'er, baby brother. We'll find officer friendly, the Chinese kid, and everyone else. So don't you worry 'bout nothin'. We're gonna find 'em."

Daryl sighed, "For the hundredth time, he's Korean."

Merle just shrugged, "Whatever. Don't make what I said any less true."

Daryl looked up at him with a confused expression. "Since when did you get so damn hopeful?"

Merle just shrugged and shifted his eyes to look straight forward. "Spendin' a lot of time with you back at the prison meant spendin' a lot of time with Beth. Guess some of her hopefulness rubbed off on me."

Daryl's jaw nearly dropped. He was surprised and confused. Merle wasn't the type of guy to let anyone have any kind of influence on him. Merle believed that the world was shit and that it would always be shit. The fact that Beth had made him think otherwise blew Daryl's mind.

It got dark pretty fast. They searched high and low for any place to set up camp for the night, but they saw nothing. Eventually they just sat down on the side of the road and built a small fire. Merle slept while Daryl stayed awake and kept watch. He didn't mind, though. He knew the minute that he saw the bus starting to drive off that he wouldn't be getting much sleep until he found her.

He couldn't help but to worry about her. He couldn't shake the feeling that she could be hurt. Or worse. He quickly pushed that thought out of his head and his lips curved into a small smirk as he remembered a conversation that he and Beth had a few months back when Rick, Michonne, Maggie, and Glenn were on a run. They said they'd be back in a few days, but it'd been three days. They still weren't back and Daryl was beginning to get worried. He was also beating himself up for not going with them. But Beth had told him that he didn't have to go on every run. So he stayed and let Rick take his place this time.

_Daryl and Beth were lying outside in the prison yard on a blanket. The sun was setting and Beth had her head resting on Daryl's chest and Daryl was holding her and running a hand through her hair. _

_Daryl was much quieter than usual that day and she was beginning to worry. So she sat up and propped herself up on her elbow, her head now resting in the palm of her hand. "Hey you. What's up?"_

_Daryl hummed in response. "Hmm?" _

_"You're bein' awfully quiet. Like, worse than usual. So, what's on your mind?"_

_Beth was always able to make Daryl open up. How she did it was a damn mystery to him. _

_He sat up and rolled his shoulders into a shrug before responding to her question. "I dunno. Just worried about Rick and them, 's all. They should've been back by now." _

_She sighed and sat upright, looking into Daryl's eyes with a reassuring look. "You know what daddy always says?" _

_He nodded. But she recited the words back to him anyway. _

_She smiled as she spoke._ "_If you don't have hope, what's the point of livin'?" _

_"I got hope, girl. Kinda hard not to have any bein' with you all the time." He teased. _

_She flashed him that famous award-winning smile of hers that made him fall in love with her all over again. _

_"They'll come back, Daryl. You just gotta have a little faith." _

He let her words play over and over in his head as he tried to figure out where he and his brother would go from here. He knew that they had to go in the same direction as the bus. That much had already been decided. First thing's first, though, they had to find some supplies. They didn't have anything. No food, no water, nothing but the clothes on their backs and the few weapons that they had on them when everything went to shit, and of course, Merle's knife for a hand. They'd stock up on supplies and then set out to look for the bus.

He knew that not everyone had gotten on the bus, but honestly, he wasn't sure he cared. All he cared about at the moment was finding Beth and making sure that she was safe. That may have been a selfish thing to do, but he didn't care. With any luck, he'd find some more members of the group on his journey. He started to realize just how much Beth had changed his point of view of the world. If it hadn't been for her, he'd have given up hope that anyone was alive by now. But he had hope and he knew that he'd find his family again. And soon.

The next day the brothers started on their trip to find supplies. They were both hungry and cranky, so neither of them did much talking. Other than the occasional walker that they had to take out and put down, they walked in complete silence. It was when Daryl saw that white bus lying on the ground tipped over on its side that the silence was broken.

"Beth!" He ran toward the bus, screaming her name as loud as he could.

Merle ran after him and, just like the day before at the prison, held him back.

"Daryl, stop! If she's in there you know she's-"

Daryl cut him off. "Shut the fuck up, Merle! And let me go! If she _is_ in there, I _have_ to know!"

There was no point in arguing with him and Merle knew that. So instead, he loosened his grip on his baby brother and started walking toward the bus.

There were walkers trying to climb out of the windows but none of them were successful. They were probably caught on something and were unable to move. Merle quickly used the knife that had replaced his hand to put them down. He made sure to look at their faces beforehand.

Daryl was walking behind Merle as his brother took out walker after walker. These were all people he knew. They were good people. They didn't deserve to die like this. No one did. He felt more relief than grief, though, as he realized that none of them were Beth. She'd gotten off.

Daryl took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief before mumbling a quiet, "C'mon," to his brother and started to walk forward.

Merle followed closely behind him and let out his own sigh of relief. He'd never admit it to Daryl, or to anyone else, but he was glad that Beth wasn't on that bus. He'd grown to actually like her over the past year. Sure, her singing and constant over-enthusiasm could get annoying, but he enjoyed having her around. Everyone else at the prison was just nice to him because they didn't want conflict. Beth was nice to him because she saw what most people didn't. She saw that behind all of the cockiness, the racism, and the sarcasm, he was a good man.

They walked for a good bit of hours before they finally found an abandoned car on the side of the road. There were scorch marks on the road which indicated that whoever was here last had built a fire. As they got closer to the car, that's when he noticed it.

_Daryl, go straight._  
_ -Beth_

He ran as fast as he could to get to the car. He could smell the faint scent of the marker and he knew what that meant. That meant that it hadn't been written too long ago. He was on her trail. He smiled bigger than he ever thought possible as the feeling of relief fell over him. She was alive.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

_Hey there, _

_It's been about a week or so since the prison was taken from us. Since my daddy was taken from us. Since my family was taken from me. Since Daryl was taken from me. Maggie, Glenn, and myself are currently camping out in a gas station we found yesterday. It was near a gun store that we raided. There wasn't much left, but there was enough for us to take and use. There were even some knives there. We've boarded up the windows and the doors here in this store. There's not much food or water here, but there's enough for the three of us. When we got here, we found a loaded gun behind the counter. Maggie thinks we can stay here for a while. But I'm not getting my hopes up. And if I'm being honest, I don't know that I want to. I want to get out there and look for Daryl and the rest of our family. Glenn is finally back to his full health and I'm thankful to God for that. Not just because that means that we can move faster now, but also because I can't handle losing anymore people. _

_It's so quiet here. I guess that's because I'm used to always being around Judith. God, I miss her little laugh. I miss her crying and waking me up in the middle of the night. I can't wait to hold her and sing to her again. I can't wait to find Rick, Carl, Michonne, and everyone else and hug them. They're alive. I know it. _

_I've been leaving Daryl trails to follow. I wrote him another note on the window at the gun shop, and another one on the window here. The note I left on the window here says: _

_"Daryl, I'm in here."_  
_-Beth _

_I really hope he sees it. Considering that Maggie thinks we're gonna be here for a while, he might. I hope he found Merle and that they're both safe. I've prayed every night for God to bring them back to me safely. I really do hope he's listening. _

Beth closed her journal and placed it, and the pen that she was writing with, back into her bag. She looked over at Maggie and Glenn who were sleeping on the opposite side of the store. It wasn't dark out, but she figured that they could use the rest. They'd all done nothing but walk and run over the past week. This was all a big change from the prison. At the prison, they all woke up, ate breakfast, did their jobs, ate lunch, ate dinner, and then relaxed until they went to sleep. Everything was so easy back at the prison. They didn't have to run, they didn't have to scavenge, they didn't have to survive. All they had to do was live.

She sighed as she stood up and walked over to the cash register section of the gas station. She grabbed a bag of peanut m&amp;m's and walked back to her spot in the corner of the room. She sat down on top of the coat that she'd found in the employee section of the store and pulled out a bottle of expired soda. These days, stale m&amp;m's and flat soda were considered a treat and hard to come by. So she enjoyed her little treat to herself as she flipped through one of the magazines that she'd grabbed at the magazine rack in the back of the store.

Maggie woke up a few hours later and went to sit beside of her sister. Beth held out the half eaten bag of m&amp;m's and Maggie thanked her before pouring some into her mouth.

Beth was so tired that she could barely hold her eyes open. She hadn't slept more than a few hours all week and she was completely drained. Maggie had been nagging her all week to try and get some sleep, but she couldn't. She just couldn't sleep without Daryl there. She'd gotten so used to him holding her at night that she'd forgotten how to sleep without him.

But all of those sleepless nights finally caught up to her. Maggie was talking to her and the next thing she knew, she looked over and Beth was out like a light. Maggie let out a sigh of relief at the fact that her sister was finally getting some sleep.

Beth had only gotten about four hours of sleep before a banging on the door made her jump nearly twenty feet in the air. She pulled out her knife and went to look out the window. She was almost there when she heard voices. Not walkers. She listened a little closer and her jaw dropped. She'd know that voice anywhere. But she just wanted to make sure before she went bursting out the door.

A few more loud knocks came and then, "Beth? You in there? Open up!"

There was no question about it then. She knew who the voice belonged to. That's when she put her knife back into her boot and yelled at her sister to wake up.

"Maggie, get up! Help me unboard the door!"

"What?" Maggie rubbed her eyes and tried to regain focus.

"Rick's outside! C'mon, I can't do this by myself!"

Maggie jumped up from the floor so fast that it made Beth's head spin. Glenn followed close behind her.

The three of them worked together to get the nails out of the board. Maggie and Glenn barely had enough time to set the board down on the floor before Beth was opening the door and running outside.

As soon as Beth opened the door, she saw Rick, Carl, Judith, and Michonne. She was sure that she'd never been happier than she was in that moment. She quickly ran to rick and wrapped her arms around his neck. She ran to Michonne and gave her a tight squeeze, then to Carl and did the same. By the time she had picked up Judith, she was in tears. She squeezed the child that was in her arms and gave her a kiss on the head before balancing Judith on her hip and bringing up a hand to wipe her tears away.

"I knew you guys were alive." Beth said, her lips curving into a bit of a smirk.

Rick half-smiled at her and gave her a nod. "You always were the hopeful one."

"Rick," Maggie began, "you look like hell. What happened?"

Rick just shrugged. "Got into it with The Governor. He damn near killed me. If it hadn't been for Michonne, I wouldn't just look like hell, I'd be there."

Beth shook her head and gave him a slap on the shoulder. "Don't say things like that."

Rick started to speak but Carl's voice cut him off. "Where's Daryl?"

Beth looked down at the ground then. She had to fight to keep the tears from spilling over.

"Is he.." Carl began, choosing his words cautiously.

Beth shook her head, but didn't look up from the ground. "No, he's not dead, if that's what you're askin'. He went to look for Merle. He told me that he'd meet me back on the bus, but he never came. So I got off to look for him. By the time I got to where he was supposed to be lookin' for Merle, herds had built up and there was no way around 'em."

No one really knew what to say, so no one tried to respond. Rick and Carl just nodded as Beth spoke, and Michonne did the same. Beth looked down at Judith and thought about just how lucky she was. She was so innocent. She didn't have any memories about before all of this started to hold onto. She didn't know how completely fucked the world was, or that she'd never see half of the people she'd been growing up with over the past year again.

Everyone went back inside of the gas station. It was getting dark out and Beth knew that Rick and the rest of his little group had to have been tired. The gas station was beginning to get crowded. Not that she minded, though. That just meant that there was more family there now than what she started out with.

Everyone else fell asleep that night. Except for Beth. It was getting hot inside of the gas station so she decided to unboard the door as quietly as she could and sit outside and write in her journal. Once she was out there, she turned on the small flashlight that Glenn had found for her a few days earlier and began writing. Her entry was cut short, though, once she heard the moans.

She pulled her knife from her boot, just in case, and stood up to hurry back inside. She didn't make it very far, though. Because as soon as she stood up, she was face to face with rotting flesh and bones. She tried to muffle her scream of surprise as she penetrated the walker's skull with her knife. As she turned around to run inside, there were two walkers less than five inches away from her face. She tried to back away from them. When she did, she tripped over a lead pipe that was lying on the ground and started to tumble down the hill. She screamed the whole way down until she reached the bottom and hit her head on a light pole and complete darkness took over.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I just wanted to thank you all for reading this story. Thank you for all of the follows, the favorites, and the reviews. You have no idea what that means to me. I'm so glad that my hard work has paid off and that you all like the story. So again, thank you so much. Xo Enjoy!

**Chapter 5**

* * *

After Daryl saw Beth's note on the windshield, they didn't stay in the car that night. Merle wanted to, but Daryl refused. Daryl told him that if he wanted to, he could. But that he was going to find Beth. Merle understood that he needed to find her. So he just groaned and told Daryl to start walking. The smart thing to do would've been to have stayed in the car. But Daryl didn't care about what was smart. All he cared about was finding Beth.

As they walked, Daryl took his time in case Beth had left him anymore trails to follow. He stopped to look at every other abandoned car they passed and every window on every building that wasn't overrun. He knew Beth wouldn't attempt going into a place filled with walkers. It didn't matter how bad she wanted to leave him a note or a trail. She was confident, not suicidal.

Of course the fact that they kept stopping every twenty minutes just annoyed Merle even more, but he knew that it was something Daryl had to do. The truth was, he wanted to find Beth just as much as Daryl did. He'd never admit it, but he missed her, too. He'd give anything to hear her lecture him about how he needed to have hope, and then go off and sing some annoying overly cheerful song.

After about five hours and seeing no sign of Beth anywhere, Daryl was beginning to get frustrated.

"Surely to God that wasn't the only damn trail she left me. I can track, but I can't if there's no signs or footsteps _to_ track." Daryl let out a sigh that was full of nothing but pure frustration.

Merle draped an arm around Daryl's shoulders. "Settle down, baby brother. You don't think she knows that? She ain't just gonna leave you high and dry out here. We just gotta keep goin' straight. If she'd needed to make a turn or somethin', she'd have left you a note to tell you to change direction."

Daryl knew that his brother was right, so he didn't argue any further. He just gave him a nod and said, "We need food. Weapons. Shit to carry it all it."

"I was wonderin' when you were gonna come to that realization." Merle teased.

Daryl rolled his eyes and started to take a step forward. "C'mon."

By the time the sun started to set, they'd made their way to a small, abandonded store. Luckily, there weren't any walkers inside. Which was good because they were both too tired to take any of them out. Merle had only gotten a few hours of sleep since the prison fell, and Daryl had maybe gotten about an hour. If he was lucky.

When they got inside, Merle immediately spotted drawstring backpacks that were on a rack in the back of the store. He grabbed three of them and then threw one at his brother before going up and down the aisles and filling up the two that he had kept. When he got to the toilet paper, he was overwhelmed with joy.

"Well I'll be damned."

Daryl, who was in the next aisle over shoving canned food into his bag, looked over at his brother and cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

Merle held up two rolls of toilet paper. "I never thought I'd be wipin' my ass with toilet paper again after the prison. I'd already accepted that I'd be usin' poison oak. My ass is gonna feel like royalty."

Daryl snorted at his brother's words and rolled his eyes.

He'd gotten as much food as his bag would hold. He walked over to the cooler section and threw what was left of the bottled water into his bag. He walked over to the register area to see if there was a gun behind the counter. He figured that most small shop owners kept one there just in case of emergencies. He was right. There was a fully loaded gun under the counter. He stuck the gun into the back of his pants and tucked his shirt behind it.

He was just about to go find Merle when he saw a small yellow journal near the register as well. He smiled as he thought about what Beth would say when he found her and gave it to her. He figured that she didn't have her old journal with her when shit went down back at the prison. And he knew that she wouldn't go back in to get it. She'd have wanted to, but she wouldn't have because she'd have known she had more important things to get and people to save. So Daryl grabbed the journal and a few pens and threw it all into his bag, then set off to find his brother.

"Daryl," Merle called out, "you may wanna come look at this."

Daryl followed the sound of his brother's voice and found him in the back of the store near a rack of clothes. When he got there, Merle was holding a dark colored tank top that was covered in dirt and blood. His heart stopped as he realized who the shirt belonged to. Beth.

"Lemme see that." He jerked the shirt out of his brother's hands and held it up in front of him. He examined the blood and when he realized that it was walker blood and not human, his heart started beating fast, and then back to normal as he breathed out a sigh of relief.

Merle let out his own sigh of relief. Daryl didn't acknowledge it, though. He was too busy debating whether to keep the shirt or not. He eventually said to hell with it and put the shirt in his bag. He wasn't keeping the shirt for her. If she took it off, that obviously meant that she didn't want it or need it anymore. She must've picked up one of the shirts that were on the rack and put it on. He didn't blame her. The shirt she had on was covered in muck and grime. Of course she'd want something new. He was keeping the shirt for him. Just in case.

"We should stay in here for the night. It's secure, there's food, and we could both use the time to catch some Z's."

Daryl shook his head. He wanted to keep moving. He wanted to keep looking for her. "Nah. There's a gun store a few blocks down. We need to go there and stock up on weapons before we settle down anywhere. We'll camp out there for the night if it's safe and head out first thing in the mornin'."

He didn't wait for his brother to respond. Instead, he just walked toward the front of the store and then out the door.

Usually Merle would've argued, but not this time. He knew Daryl wasn't going to stop until he found her. So he just muttered under his breath and followed behind his brother. "Yes sir, Mr. Mom."

When Daryl saw the black letters on the gun store window, he ran as fast as he could to get there. Just when he was about to lose what little faith he had left, she'd manage to make him believe again, and she wasn't even there.

_Daryl, keep going straight. _  
_See you soon, Mr. Dixon._  
_-Beth. _

The corners of his lips curved up into a smile. He was so close to finding her. In just a few days time, she'd be back in his arms and everything would be good again. He'd get her back and then they'd go and find the rest of their family. They'd find some place to settle down and live again.

He walked into the gun store with Merle following closely behind him. Inside there were three walkers. Nothing they couldn't handle. Daryl took aim at the first walker's skull with his bow and released an arrow right in between its eyes. He quickly pulled out his arrow, and then stuck it through another walker's eye and straight to its brain. Merle had taken down the third and final walker with his knife for a hand.

After that was taken care of and the place was fully cleared, they moved shelves in front of all the entry ways. They grabbed guns and ammo for each of them. The place didn't have much left. It had mostly already been scavenged through. But there was enough for them to take and use. When they were done gathering up all of their weapons, they sat down in the back of the room.

Merle grabbed a can of chili from his bag and opened it, along with a bottle of water that he'd picked up. Daryl did the same, only instead of chili, he opened a can of peaches. Daryl had to admit, he was more than delighted to finally have something decent in his system. They'd spent the past week drinking water from creeks and eating berries off the side of the road. They each ate in silence, both of them too tired to speak.

After Merle was finished eating, he laid back on the cold, concrete floor and immediately fell asleep. Daryl just leaned his head back against the wall. It took awhile for him to fall asleep because every time he'd close his eyes, he'd see the prison. He'd see Beth. He'd see them both being taken away from him. Eventually though, his body was just too tired to function anymore and finally, for the first time in a week, allowed complete unconsciousness to take over.

The next morning they moved all of the shelves away from the doors and headed out again. As they were walking, scenarios of what would happen when he finally found Beth played over and over in Daryl's head. He was lost in his own thoughts and tuning out the rest of the world. It was when Merle nudged him in the side with his elbow that Daryl was jerked himself out of his daze.

"You seein' this?" Merle asked, stopping to point at the footprints that were on the ground.

Daryl crouched down to get a closer look. "There's three sets of tracks here. No way it could be Beth."

"Unless she's not alone. I say we follow 'em. See where we end up." Merle suggested.

Part of Daryl wanted to believe his brother. But another part of him was telling him not to listen to him and to keep moving. If it wasn't Beth, they could be running into some serious trouble. But if it _was _Beth and he went in the opposite direction just based on fear of being disappointed, he'd never find her. He'd rather run straight into trouble than to risk never finding her.

"C'mon, baby brother. What do we got to lose?"

Daryl nodded and motioned for his brother to keep moving forward.

Turns out that continuing to go forward was the right thing to do. Because once he saw the note on the window telling him that she was inside of that gas station, he was he happiest man alive.

Daryl and Merle both ran as fast as their legs would carry them to get to the doors. They were boarded up, so that definitely meant that there were people inside. Beth was inside.

They both pounded their fists on the door, not caring if a walker heard them or not. It didn't matter. Nothing did. Nothing except for the fact that his Beth was inside.

He called out her name a few times and when he saw the nails being pulled out of the boards he couldn't hide the grin that had formed from ear to ear. He was crying, too. But these weren't tears of sadness. These were tears of overwhelming amounts of joy.

When Maggie opened the door, he gave her a quick, tight squeeze and then released her. He'd talk to her in a few minutes. Right now, though, he just wanted to talk to Beth. He wanted to thank her for leaving him a trail to follow. He wanted to hold her and tell her how much he loved her.

He brought a hand up to wipe his tears away before he scanned the room. He saw Maggie, Glenn, Rick, Michone, Carl, Judith.. but not Beth. His eyes quickly darted back to Maggie. Before she could speak, he cut her off.

"Where's Beth?" His heart was pounding so loud he was sure everyone in the room could hear.

Maggie took a deep breath, her eyes teasing to overflow with tears. "She's gone."

And just like that, his world stopped spinning. His joy was replaced with full-blown rage and his hands were balled up into fists by his side.

"What the hell do you mean she's _gone_? Is she dead?" He braced himself for her answer.

Maggie shook her head. "No, Daryl. She's just gone. We all went to sleep, and when we woke up, she wasn't here. The doors had been unboarded. She must've went outside in the middle of the night or somethin'. We looked everywhere, but there was no sign of her. We've been stayin' here just in case she comes back. But it's been days. It's like she just disappeared."

Daryl didn't say much after that. He didn't know what to say. His tears of joy had been replaced with tears of sorrow. He followed every trail, every sign. He'd done everything that she'd told him to do, and for what? If she wasn't here, then where the hell was she? These were all questions that he so desperately wished he had the answers to. He did know one thing, though. He'd managed to lose her twice in one week and he was back to square one. Looking for the love of his life with no idea where to begin.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I had so much fun writing this chapter. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think about the direction that this story is going in. I would love to hear from all of you lovely people! Xo

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Beth's eyes slowly began to flutter open. She had to blink a few times to regain focus. She could tell that she was lying down on her back because when her vision was finally clear and she looked up, she saw a white, dated ceiling that desperately needed a patch job. She quickly realized that she wasn't on the ground or on a floor, either. She was in a bed.

She slowly eased herself into an upright position and looked around. Not only was she in a bed, but she was in a room. The room had another bed on the opposite side, a dresser, two bed side tables with lamps on each of them, and a full length mirror in the right corner of the room. None of the furniture was updated or modern. It kind of reminded her of the farm. Of home.

She had no memory of getting into this room, or lying down on this bed. The last thing she remembered was that she was outside of the gas station fighting of walkers and then.. and then what? She couldn't remember anything after that. It was all a blur. Her brain tried to work its way to a rational explaination and conclusion for her lack of memory, but it failed. So instead of relying on her brain to figure it out on its own, she decided to help it.

Beth stood up from the bed, only to become so dizzy that she had to lean against the table beside of it for support. She let out a groan as she felt a sensation of overwhelming pain surge through her head. She could hear her blood pumping and her heart pounding. She released one of her hands from the bed side table and brought it up to the back of her head to investigate the source of her pain. And sure enough, there was a knot that was equivalent to the size of Texas.

"Ow, damn." She muttered under her breath.

She heard footsteps entering the room from behind. She spun around to see a stranger. A woman. She was short and pale. Couldn't have been any older than her late thirties to her early forties. She had short, natural red hair that came down to just above her shoulders. She had on a dress that looked like it could've came straight from the fifties. She may have seemed relatively young, but her clothing style was Stone Age old. She greeted Beth with a smile and took a few steps forward toward her.

Instinct kicked in and each time the woman took a step forward, Beth took one step back. She started scanning the room, looking for anything that she could use as a weapon if she needed to. She saw her journal and a pen on the bedside table. Somehow, she'd managed to miss them before. Probably from being so hazy and confused. She placed her hand over the pen. It could be used as a weapon if need be.

Beth slightly tightened her grip on the pen as she heard the woman begin to speak. She remembered what Rick had told her awhile back when they were still at the prison.

His words played over and over in her head. _"No matter what anyone says, no matter what you think. You are not_ _safe. Never let your guard down." _

Before the woman had the chance to get more than three words out of her mouth, Beth held up a hand and cut her off. She didn't know this woman. Just because she seemed nice, didn't mean that she was. The Governor probably seemed nice to a lot of people. And look at all of the chaos that he'd managed to cause. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be here. She'd be at home in the prison with Daryl and their family. So she quickly decided that she'd be the one asking the questions. Not the other way around. She was taking Rick's advice. She wouldn't let her guard down.

"Where am I?" Beth began, "Who are you?"

The woman flashed a smile in Beth's direction before replying. "I'm Amelia. Amelia Wilde. And who might you be?"

Beth shook her head. "You didn't answer the first question. I'll answer yours, when you answer mine."

Amelia nodded and then went on to respond to Beth's question that she had previously neglected. "You're in a house about two miles away from Atlanta. I was out on a run, trying to find some essentials. You know, medicine, food, water. All that good stuff. I was drvin' past an old gas station on my way back here when I found you. Lyin' on the ground knocked out next to a light pole. I couldn't just leave you there."

Amelia shook her head and then continued on. "It's a wonder the fleshies didn't get'cha."

Beth cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. She'd never heard anyone call them that before. "Fleshies?"

Amelia laughed. "You got a better name for 'em?"

She thought back to the farm, when Rick's group first arrived and when she heard them be called walkers for the first time. It made her sad to think about it. So she just shrugged and said, "Walkers. I call 'em walkers."

"My son called 'em fleshies. I thought it was silly at the time, but eventually, it just kinda stuck." Amelia explained.

"Called? As in past tense?" Beth didn't mean to pry. But she did anyway.

Amelia let out a quiet sigh. "Yes, past tense. He and my husband, John, were out on a run about a year ago. He was just a boy. I should've never let him go, but I did. When John came home, he was carrying Jaden in his arms. He'd been bit. And, well. The rest is pretty self-explanatory."

The woman tried to smile, but Beth could see that she was broken down. Her smile was crooked and her eyes were filled with nothing but pain, anger, and sorrow. She'd seen those eyes and that broken smile before. She'd seen them every time she looked at Daryl.

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine how hard losin' a child must be. But you shouldn't blame yourself. You couldn't've known. It _wasn't_ your fault." Beth knew she wouldn't be able to get through to the woman. No one ever would.

"And I hope you never have to experience it, sweetheart."

Beth wasn't sure how to respond. She knew that nothing she said would ease her pain, or her guilt.

She let up on the tight grip that she'd been keeping on the pen and made her way to sit down on the bed. Her head still hurt something awful and it seemed like standing just made it worse. She heard another set of footsteps entering the room and instead of her hand just being on the pen this time, she had it enclosed tightly in her hand. The tip of the pen was sticking out and she was prepared to puncture anything or anyone that got too close.

A young girl, who looked to be about the same age as Beth, walked into the room and was carrying a small amount of folded clothes in her arms. She had her long, brunette locks braided off to the side. She was a lot tanner than Beth and just a few inches taller. She was dressed in a tight, red sweater that accented every single one of her upper body's curves. Her pants were just as tight as the sweater and looked as if they had just been painted on. The black lace up ankle boots that were on her feet looked new, and freshly polished. Her clothes had zero stains on them and they looked brand new. She didn't seem to have any noticable flaws. Except for the long scar that went from the corner of her eye and down to the bottom of her cheek.

Beth, however, was still in the same yellow polo that she'd found, along with the grey cardigan. They weren't clean anymore. There was walker blood, dirt, and grass stains all over each article of clothing that she wore.

"Sweetheart, this is your roomate, Liz. Liz Michaels."

Liz threw her head back in a slight nod before placing the folded clothes that she'd been holding on top of the dresser. "Sup? You got a name?"

Beth was cautious about answering. She didn't want to give them too much information. It wasn't like they could exactly do a background check on her or anything, but she wasn't about to let her guard down. She didn't know these people. So she decided to give them her real first name and a fake last name. Well, it wasn't a _"fake" _last name. It just wasn't hers. Not yet, anyway.

She took a semi-deep breath before responding. "My name's Beth. Beth Dixon." She liked the sound of that.

God, she missed him.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Dixon." Liz extended her arm, implying for Beth to shake her hand.

Beth did so, but she did it with hesitation. _"Never let your guard down." _

"Girls, I've got to go downstairs and get started started on makin' dinner. Liz, you'll fill her in?" Amelia said.

Liz nodded. "Yes ma'am."

And with a smile and a wave, Amelia was out the door.

Liz shut the door behind her and sat down on the bed opposite from Beth. She looked down and saw the pen that was still in Beth's hand.

"You can let go of that, y'know. I ain't gonna hurt'cha."

Beth released her grip on the pen, but didn't put it down. That'd be letting her guard down and she couldn't do that. She wouldn't.

"So is Amelia like, your momma or somethin'?" Beth questioned.

Liz snorted. "Hell no. My momma died a long time ago. Back when all this shit first started. After she died, I was on my own."

Beth stared at Liz with a confused expression. "So how'd you end up here?"

"I was alone. John found me. Told me he had a place that was safe, that he had food and water, and bed for me to sleep in if I was willin' to take him up on his offer." Liz responded.

The expression of confusion never left Beth's face as she listened to Liz talk. "Offer?"

Liz nodded. "Mhm. Said as long as I's willin' to work for it and earn my keep I could stay with 'im. I only planned on stayin' here awhile. Least 'til I got my shit straight and got myself a plan. And now it's a year and a half later and I'm still tryin' to get out."

All of the confusion made Beth's headache worse. "What do you mean by 'tryin' to get out'?"

Liz stood up from her bed and walked over to sit down beside of Beth. She lowered her voice as she spoke. "Yeah, tryin'. As in I can't. As in I'm not allowed."

Beth tried to wrap her head around what Liz was saying. "They won't let'cha?"

Liz shook her head. "No, Beth. They won't. I've tried. Only once, though." She pointed to the perfect, straight lined scared that ran down her face. "And it didn't go over so well. They'll act friendly. Tell you that they'll give you whatever you need and want. It's bullshit. They'll also tell you that you can leave whenever you want to, but you can't. They won't let you. They've got people guardin' the perimeter. They say it's to make sure that the fleshies don't get in, but it's really to make sure that we don't get out."

Beth didn't scare easily. Hell, the dead was walking the earth and she didn't flinch unless one caught her by surprise. She was tough as nails when it came to scary things. You had to be that way in this new world or you didn't survive. But in that moment, as soon as Liz was finished talking, she was terrified and her look of confusion turned into a look of straight up horror. She didn't understand much of anything anymore. But she knew one thing was for sure, though. She had to get out of there and so did Liz. And they would. She had a family to get back to and she'd get back to them if it was the last thing she did. She knew it would take time, lots of planning, and even more patience, but she knew she could do it. She was strong. And until she figured a way out, she'd never let her guard down.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hi everyone! I want to apologize for not updating sooner. I've been sick with a cold all week and haven't been up to it. But now I'm back! I actually tried to start writing this on Wednesday, but I couldn't. I couldn't get into it for some reason. I just lost my muse for a bit. Writer's block sucks. But today, I found my inspiration again and was able to write this amazing chapter for you all. It's kind of long, I hope that's okay. ;) I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Leave a review and let me know what you think! Xoxo

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Daryl and the group stayed at the gas station for four days after Beth's unexplained disappearance. The whole time they were there, Daryl wouldn't speak to anyone. He just sat in the corner of the room where Beth's things were and held her shirt that he and Merle had found close to him at all times. It didn't matter that there was dirt and walker blood all over it. It was _hers_.

He wouldn't talk to anyone because he was afraid. He was afraid that if he let anyone else get close to him, or at least any closer than they already were, that he'd lose them, too. And he couldn't handle that. He couldn't handle losing anyone else.

Daryl sighed in frustration as he threw his head back against the wall and slipped his eyes shut. He thought back to a conversation that he and Beth had once had, before they announced themselves as an official couple.

_Beth was in his cell one night. She'd been coming in there a lot lately. Not that he minded, though. He enjoyed her company. _

_Every single night, she'd try to convince him to let her stay. He wasn't having it. There was no way he was about to let her stay there with her father sleeping just a few cells down. It wasn't like they were going to fuck or some shit like that, he just didn't think her father would approve of his daughter being with someone like him. _

_Beth had told him a million times before that her daddy wouldn't mind, that he just wanted her to be happy. Daryl didn't believe that, though. Beth deserved better than him. He knew it. Hershel knew it. Everyone knew it. _

_There was a clock sitting on the table across the room from his bed. It was late and it was time for Beth to leave. Truth be told, Daryl hated telling her that she had to go. He wanted her to stay. But she couldn't. So he let out a small sigh and stood up from the bed. He walked over to Beth, who was sitting on the table with the clock. But before he could speak, she cut him off. _

_"I ain't goin' nowhere, so don't even say it." _

_He sighed and placed his hands on her hips. "You have to, girl. Can't have your daddy wakin' up and seein' you in here with me." _

_She shook her head and looked up at him. "I told you, he won't mind. He just wants me to be happy. I swear, we've had this conversation a million times. Ain't it stuck in that thick skull of yours yet?" _

_He couldn't help but smirk at that. "Ain't it stuck in yours yet that I know he'd mind. He ain't gonna want'cha runnin' around with some guy like me." _

_He'd dipped his head down by the end of his protest. _

_She let out a sigh and placed the tips of her fingers under his chin and lifted it up. "Some guy like you? Some guy who's amazin' and treats me like I'm the best thing that's ever happened to 'im? Some guy who'd give his life for mine, or anyone else's for that matter, without a second thought? Some guy who helps keep this place runnin'? Some guy who helps make sure we've got a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs? Daryl, you're not just 'some guy'. My daddy respects you, thinks highly of you. Honestly, I don't think there's anyone in this prison he'd rather me be with. You're a good man, Daryl." _

_He shrugged. Completely in awe and amazed at how someone like her, could care so much about someone like him. "Maybe you gotta keep on remindin' me sometimes." _

_She shook her head. "I can't do that. You gotta remind yourself. I'll be gone someday. I won't be here to remind you." _

_The thought of losing her made his stomach churn. "Stop."_

_"I will. And when I am, you gotta remember to have faith in yourself." _

_She leaned up to press a quick kiss to his lips. He didn't mean to, but he jerked away. He still wasn't completely used to receiving affection from her or being close to her. _

_"You should go." He said, taking a step back. _

_She sighed and jumped down from the table. She walked toward the exit and stopped just before making her way out. "God forbid you ever let anybody get too close." _

Daryl sighed as he shook himself out of his thoughts. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. He hadn't slept since he'd been there. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. But not in a good way. He saw her disappearing, he saw her being taken away from him, he saw her getting bit, he saw her dying.

Everyone else was asleep and he didn't know what to do. At least if everyone was awake, he'd have a reason not to break down. He didn't want them to see him like this, to see him fall apart. But his thoughts were eating him alive and he needed to find a way to distract himself.

The journal that he'd picked up for Beth caught his eye. He took a second to look around and make sure that everyone was really asleep before picking it up and opening it to the first blank page. He sighed. If he couldn't say his feelings out loud, maybe he'd at least be able to write them down. So he picked up the pen and began scribbling chicken scratch words onto the page.

_Beth, _

_I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. All I know is that if I don't do something, I'm not going to make it through the night. _

_You're gone and you have been for awhile now. But I followed the signs. I went straight like you said. It was all for nothing though because you're not here. Everyone else is, and I'm grateful for that. Well, not everyone. Sasha, Bob, Tyreese, Carol.. they're all still gone. But see, the thing is, I'm not upset about that. I don't have time to be upset about anything else because the only thing that I'm upset about, the only thing that I'm able to think about, is the fact that you're not here. _

_I should have taken you with me back at the prison when I went to find Merle. Maybe that's selfish, but I don't care. I'd have you. You'd be with me right now. Instead I'm sitting here wondering what the hell I'm going to do next. _

_The group wants to leave in the morning. We've been here waiting on you for days. Rick says we need to move and he's right. We can't stay in one place anymore. If you were going to come back here, you would've by now. I know that. You would've found a way. _

_I don't know what we'll do tomorrow or what the future holds, but I do know one thing. I'm gonna find you, Greene. I'm gonna find you. _

Daryl closed the journal and shoved it, along with the pen, back into his bag. Writing gave him some relief, but it was short lived. He'd never get the relief he needed. Not until she was safe. Not until he found her.

The next day, the group packed up their things and were out of the gas station by sunrise. They made the decision to go straight. There was no sense in going back. Not to a graveyard.

As the group walked, Daryl hung near the back. Carl stayed with him. He didn't want Daryl to be alone. They walked in silence because no one really knew what to say to each other. It would've made sense to try and comfort each other, but what was the point? By now, they'd learned that comforting lies hurt more than hurtful truth.

Carl tilted his head to the side as he crouched down to investigate the ground. "Hold up. These are tire tracks."

Daryl leaned down beside of Carl to get a closer look. "He's right. They're new, too. But not super new. Few days old, at least."

Rick shook his head. "We would've heard a car. It's not a sound that goes unnoticed these days."

"Unless we were asleep." Carl said.

Daryl shook his head. "I haven't been asleep since we got here. I'd've heard it."

Maggie took a step toward the tracks. "Unless it passed before y'all got here."

Merle's unique, high pitched voice filled the air. "Guys, come take a look at this."

The group walked toward Merle, and were all taken back by what they saw once they got there and what he'd found. There was blood around, and on the end of a light pole and Merle was holding a necklace in his hand with a heart-shaped diamond impersonation hanging on it. Daryl would know that necklace anywhere. He'd picked it up on a run once. For Beth.

Daryl ran and took the necklace from his brother's hands and stuffed it into his pocket before leaning down to inspect the blood on the light pole. He pressed two fingers to it and shook his head.

"It ain't too fresh, but it ain't walker blood neither. It's human." He said, wiping the little bit of blood he had on the tips of his fingers off on his pants.

Maggie's jaw dropped and she clung to Glenn's arm like super glue.

Daryl wanted to collapse to the ground right then and there. And he started to, but Merle caught him before he could.

"Easy there, little brother. It's just a bit of blood. We don't know for sure that it's hers."

Daryl pushed his brother off of him. "You found her necklace beside of a pile of blood and you're tellin' me it ain't hers? Put two and two together, Merle. It's hers."

"Don't mean she's dead." Rick said, clapping a hand onto Daryl's shoulder. "There's no body, so she could've-"

Daryl cut through a hand in the air and cut him off. "No body don't mean shit these days, Rick. You know that. All that means is that she's walkin' around here in a reanimated corpse."

Maggie couldn't take anymore arguing. "Would you just _stop_ it! For God's sake this is my little sister you're talkin' about! Daryl, has bein' with her taught you nothin'? She's alive and I'm not givin' up hope on her this damn easily. We'll find her."

Glenn held her tight and tried to comfort her.

Daryl felt bad. He wasn't the only one who'd lost Beth. He'd apologize to Maggie later. Doing it now would only make things worse.

"The tire tracks are close to the blood. Maybe whoever was driving the car saw Beth here and tried to help her." Carl suggested.

It didn't sound completely insane. There was a chance that Carl was right. It was then that Daryl realized what a big impact Beth had on everyone. Everyone there was so full of hope, even with everything that'd happened to them over the past four years and in the past two weeks. They'd find Beth and she'd be okay. It'd all be okay.

As they started walking again, everyone became more open to conversation. Rick and Michonne were talking, and so were Maggie and Glenn. Merle was holding Judith and telling her some story about a time when he was in juvy and Daryl was glad that Judith couldn't comprehend or remember anything that he was saying.

Carl and Daryl, however, walked in silence. Daryl looked at Carl and thought about just how much he'd had to change and grow up just to be able to survive in this world. He was completely robbed of his childhood and it wasn't fair. He thought about Sophia and what she would've had to have turned into to stay alive, too. He missed her, and he still thought about her a lot. But in some ways, he was glad that she wasn't here. She died with her innocence. And that's something that no one dies with anymore. It's something that no one _has_ anymore. And if they _were_ able to hold onto their innocence, they wouldn't be able to for long.

They walked for hours on end and rested only when they had to. They needed to find a place for shelter. And with any luck, they'd be able to find a place to stay in for more than a few nights. Daryl couldn't start looking for Beth until he knew that the rest of his family would be somewhere safe. He knew it'd never be like it was back at the prison, but it needed to be something close. He was tired of surviving. He wanted to live.

It was dark and everyone was tired. So Rick stopped the group and told them to set up camp on the side of the road for the night. Everyone was too tired and too hungry to argue.

They had a small fire going but it wasn't much. The weather was starting to change and it was getting colder. But had the fire been any bigger, it would've attracted walkers. Or people. Four years later and it still blew Daryl's mind that they had to be more afraid of people than reanimated corpses.

After everyone had eaten, they went to sleep. Well, everyone except for Daryl and Carl. They stayed on watch. Daryl tried to convince Carl that he was fine doing it alone and to go to sleep, but Carl refused.

"You see that?" Carl asked, pointing a finger ahead.

Daryl squinted his eyes, but it was pointless. It was too dark to see a damn thing. "Nuh uh. What is it?"

"Looks like a school. It's got fences, looks like they go all the way around. And I don't hear any moans, so maybe it's safe. Maybe we could stay there." Carl suggested.

Daryl shrugged. "Maybe. We'd have to check it out first, though. Do a sweep. I'll talk to your dad about it in the mornin'."

Carl nodded. "I hope it's safe. I mean, I don't mind runnin' because it's what we have to do. I just miss how things used to be. I miss..," He stopped himself short and sighed, "I miss my mom."

Daryl was never good at comforting people and he didn't know what to say. So he just remained quiet and continued to let Carl ramble on.

"It'd just be nice, you know. To have a safe place again, for Judith, for all of us. Can you imagine how happy Beth would be if we found her and brought her back to a place she could actually live in?" Carl asked, looking up at Daryl.

Daryl cracked a small smile at the boy's words as he thought about what Beth would say. He'd definitely talk to Rick about it.

When morning came, Daryl gave Rick some time to get awake and alert before trying to talk to him about the school. When the sun came up and Daryl was able to get a better view, he saw that Carl was right. It was a school and there were fences. They looked sturdy enough. There were no walkers on the inside that he could see, so they must've done a good job at keeping them out so far. But that also brought on the thought that there may have been people inside. A place as clear as that one usually didn't mean all good things. But it was worth the try.

"Rick," Daryl began, walking toward his friend, "I needa talk to you about somethin'."

Rick nodded, giving Daryl the okay to proceed.

Daryl shifted his gaze to the school and pointed his finger forward. Rick's eyes followed and he waited for his friend to speak.

"Looks safe enough. No walkers. Fences. It's worth checkin' out." Daryl said, short, sweet, and to the point.

Rick brought a hand up to stroke his beard as he thought it over. "I don't know, Daryl. Clearness like that could mean-"

Daryl cut him off and finished his sentence. "People. I know. But it won't hurt to try. Me, you, Merle, and Glenn can go in and check the place out. We'll leave Maggie and Michonne here with Carl and Judith until we come back. If there's people, we'll try and work somethin' out. If they won't negotiate, we'll leave, keep movin'. If they won't let us leave, we'll do what we gotta do. We can't just keep goin' on like this. We gotta try."

Rick nodded, unable to argue with what his friend had just said. He knew Daryl was right. It was worth a shot.

Rick explained what was going on to the rest of the group and they all agreed that it was a good idea. It was better than sleeping in gas stations and camping on the side of the road. They needed stability.

As planned, Maggie and Michonne stayed back with Carl and Judith while the boys went to investigate their new potential "home", if you could call it that.

There was a stubborn lock on the front gate of the school. The good news was that it was rusted and dirty, which meant that it wasn't newly placed. And that lessened the chance of people being inside, but only by a small amount. Instead of immediately trying to find another way in, they circled the perimeter of the school. There were fences all the way around. They were sturdy and secure.

After that, they found their way in through the back. There was another old lock on the back gates. They didn't want to damage the fences, but there was no other way in. Merle used his knife-for-a-hand to make an incision just big enough in the fence so that they could get in.

Once they were inside, Daryl used the rag that he kept in his back pocket to tie it back up. If they decided to stay, he'd fix it later. But it was enough for right now. Especially if they needed to get out of there quickly.

They walked around to the front of the school. They banged their hands against the windows that were near the entrance and on the front doors. There was dust all over them, which was a good sign. It meant that no one had tried to clean up. The dust didn't look the least bit disturbed.

When nothing moved or made a sound, they decided it was safe to try and go inside. When Rick pulled on the door, though, it wouldn't open. It was locked. That could have been a good or a bad sign.

"Move." Glenn said, walking toward the door.

Rick did as he was told and allowed Glenn to fumble with the door.

When it opened, all of their jaws nearly fell to the floor.

"Where the hell'd you learn to do that?" Daryl asked, cocking his head to the side as he eyed his Korean friend.

Glenn just shrugged and opened the door, raising his gun. "It's a long, boring story that involves me as a kid and having a crush on a girl that was way out of my league."

Merle let out a chuckle as they all began to walk inside, his gun aimed and ready to shoot in one hand and his knife-for-a-hand raised and ready to penetrate anything or anybody that got too close. "I'm lookin' forward to hearin' the full version of that story."

They discovered that the school had two main floors and a basement. Glenn and Merle cleared the basement while Rick and Daryl cleared the first floor. They decided that they'd all clear the second floor together.

It was almost scary how quiet the whole place was. The first floor was completely clear. No signs of people, or of walkers. The place looked normal. There was dust everywhere, but that was a good thing. That meant that no one had been here to try and fix the place up.

In the basement, Merle and Glenn found some mats that were no doubt going to be used for smaller kids to nap on. They could use those as beds until they could find something better. They also found generators and gas. Lots of gas. They figured that the school needed it for busses as well, so they kept their gas supply well stocked. There was bound to have been a locker room there somwhere. That excited them beyond belief. They were going to have a decent place to sleep, maybe have a few hot meals, and be able to take showers. All they had to do was find a car so they could go out on runs and they'd be all set.

Rick discovered the cafeteria and the library. There was enough food left to last them for a long time, and enough books to keep them busy for years.

In the main office of the school, there was a sign that read,

_Welcome to South Way Elementary school._  
_Grades pre-K through 8._  
_Registration for the new school year ends September 9, 2010._  
_If you have any questions, talk to Mrs. Akers at any time!_

Reading that made Daryl realize that this place hadn't even been opened yet before shit started to go bad. That's why the place was so clean. It hadn't had a chance to be used yet.

After Glenn and Merle finished clearing the basement and Rick was done clearing his half of the first floor, they met back up with Daryl at the foyer.

Daryl told them about the sign that he found. "This place is clear. It was locked up so tight because it wasn't in session when shit hit the fan."

"So all we gotta do is clear the second floor, then we're home free." Glenn said, his lips tugging into a small smile.

"Ain't really no use in it. If it hadn't even had the chance to be used yet, this place is clear." Merle said.

Rick shook his head and looked around at his friends. "I believe that. But we can't take any risks. We gotta clear it, even if we're sure it's safe. We've been doin' good so far, ain't no use in gettin' sloppy now."

"Rick's right." Daryl agreed, "No use in gettin' sloppy now."

Merle sighed and motioned for them to start walking up the stairs.

Sure enough, the second floor was just as clear as the others. They couldn't believe it. They really lucked out this time. The Governor was dead, so they didn't have to worry about him trying to take it away from them. And if anyone else tried, they'd be ready this time. This place was theirs and it was going to be theirs for as long as they could protect it.

After they were finished with the second floor, they walked back downstairs. They all couldn't help but to smile at the realization that they were going to be able to stay here.

They'd go back and get Maggie, Michonne, and the kids, then Daryl would set out to find Beth. And when he returned, he'd try and look for the others. They weren't just going to survive. They were going to live.

Daryl placed his hands on his hips and looked around, smiling at everything he saw. "Home sweet home."


	8. Chapter 8

I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update this! Writer's block has absolutely kicked my ass these past few weeks. But I'm over it now and I'm back with a new chapter for you lovely people to enjoy! Leave me a review and let me know what you think! Xo

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Beth was in the kitchen with Liz, humming a sweet, soft sounding tune as they worked together to sweep the floor. She'd been at Amelia and John's house for a little over a week and a half now. Although the time that she'd spent there so far had been relatively short, she'd learned that Liz was right. About everything. Amelia told her that she could leave whenever she wanted, but Beth just simply thanked her and told her that she may take her up on that offer someday and that she was fine for the time being.

Amelia talked to her and checked up on her a lot. She did that with all of the people that were staying there. Beth could tell that she really did care about her and every other person that was there. There weren't many, though. Just Beth, Liz, two other girls, who seemed to be sisters, and a younger boy that couldn't have been any older than his early teens. Amelia loved and cared for each of them deeply. She was a good person. Beth could see it in her eyes, she could hear it in her voice every time she spoke. Unlike John.

Beth wouldn't say that he was evil, but he definitely wasn't good. He wasn't The Governor bad, but he wasn't her daddy good. He was just a cold-hearted man who was selfish, demanding, and inconsiderate of anyone else's feelings but his own. He didn't care about or love anyone but himself. That much was obvious. Beth assumed a lot of the reason that he was so uncaring had to do with his son that had died. But it wasn't just that. John was like this before the turn, he'd just worsened over the years.

Beth found out that Liz only had a mother, a younger brother, and a boyfriend after everything started to go south. Everyone else that Liz had known either died or just disappeared without a warning. It was just Liz and what was left of her family for awhile, then the camp that they had set up got overrun. The rest was pretty self explanatory. Her boyfriend was the last to go. He died trying to protect her while trying to get to safety. There were walkers coming at them left and right and he just threw himself into them and told her to run. Before Liz could react, they were tearing him apart piece by piece.

Beth didn't know what to say after Liz had told her everything. So she settled for explaining what happened to the prison and to her daddy. The girls had a lot in common. They had both lost people that they cared deeply for and they were both the same age. Although they were the same age, they looked completely different. Liz was more developed than Beth in every single way. Beth saw herself as a twelve year old compared to Liz.

She was excited for when they were actually able get out of there. She knew that Liz would fit right in and that the group would grow to love her. She was beginning to get impatient and eager to get out, but she decided to play it safe rather than getting in a hurry and going about the situation all wrong. She had to think up a plan that would get them out of there with as little trouble as possible. It wasn't going to be easy, but it'd get done. And when it did, she and Liz would find her family and everything would be back to normal. Whatever that meant.

Beth was yanked out of her thoughts as she saw a jar with clear liquid in it sitting on the counter. Moonshine. She couldn't help but smile as she thought back to the first of many nights that she and Daryl had spent together up in the guard tower drinking moonshine and talking all night long.

_Beth knew that her daddy would kill her if he found out that she was up here with Daryl. Not because she was with Daryl, or because she was kissing him every chance she got, or that she wasn't technically allowed to be on watch, but because of what she and Daryl drank every time they came up here. Moonshine. _

_Daryl had found crates with jars full of it when he and Michonne were out on a run once and he decided to bring some of it back. He figured that the group could use it for a little pick-me-up every now and then. He didn't plan on letting anyone except for people with drinking experience have any, and he damn sure didn't plan on letting Beth have any. _

_But when she gave him that sweet, innocent smile that he loved so much and started to bat her eyelashes, that was the end of that. He caved and let her have a sip from his jar. He laughed when she scrunched up her face and gave the jar a weird look. _

_"That's the most disgustin' thing I've ever tasted." She said. _

_He shrugged and reached his hand forward to get his jar back. "It ain't supposed to taste like champagne, girl. Give it here." _

_She shook her head and kept her grip on the jar. "Nuh uh, get your own." _

_He scoffed. "It is my own. Now give it up. I let'cha try it and you said you didn't like it, so lemme have it back." _

_She smirked at his words. "I didn't say I didn't like it. I said it was disgustin'." She loved teasing him like this. _

_"Same damn thing." He muttered. "Just give me the damn jar. Don't wanna have to explain to your daddy why you're stumblin' and wobblin' all over the place." _

_She took another small sip from the jar before looking over at him. "So what, you're like my chaperone now?" _

_He narrowed his eyes and shook his head at her. "No, but if Hershel asks me why the hell you're slurrin' your words and can't walk in a straight line, I'm gonna tell him I don't know nothin'." _

_"Yes sir, Mr. Dixon." She said, then leaned over to place a quick kiss to his lips. _

_She'd done it again. She'd gotten her way. She had him wrapped around her finger and he knew it. He couldn't believe it. No girl had ever made him feel this way before. _

_He rolled his eyes at her and pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket. He lit one of the sticks and put it between his lips, then took a long drag from it. _

_Beth sat the jar of shine down beside of her as she watched him and tried to take everything in. She never imagined that she'd be sitting in a guard tower, drinking moonshine, and smelling like cigarettes with a guy as amazing as Daryl Dixon. She never imagined that she'd get the chance to fall so far in love with someone like him. Especially not after everything started to go to hell. But he'd helped restore her faith in love, and in the world. He didn't how amazing he was, he never would. But she saw it. Every damn time she looked at him._

_He must've caught her staring because he looked over at her and cocked an eyebrow. _

_She quickly shook herself out of her daze, looked at the cigarette that was in-between his fingers, and said, "Lemme try." _

_He let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head. "First shine, and now these? I'm startin' to think I'm a bad influence on you." _

_"I sure hope you're not lookin' for an argument there. 'Cause if you are, you ain't gettin' one." She said, "Now give it here." _

_He brought the stick up to his lips and took another drag. But before he had a chance to blow out the smoke, she had straddled his lap and placed her lips less than an inch away from his. _

_He turned his head to the side and blew out the remaining smoke. _

_"You tryin' to die from secondhand smoke, Greene?" He asked. _

_She sighed and rolled her eyes. "No! I was tryin' to be all sexy. You know, like in the movies, when a guy takes a hit from the cigarette or whatever it is that he's smokin' and then blows it into the girl's mouth?" _

_He had to laugh at that one. "None of the movies I remember had that shit in it." _

_She tried to take the cigarette out from in-between his fingers, but he quickly pulled his hand out of her reach. _

_She let out a frustrated groan and then looked at him and pushed her bottom lip out into a small pout. "Please? Just one time, what's it gonna hurt?" _

_"Me, if your daddy finds out." He replied. _

_"Oh, lighten up, Daryl." She said, then tried reaching for the cigarette again. _

_This time he let her. _

_For the second time that night, she'd gotten her way. _

_"Fine, you wanna smoke, go right ahead, darlin'." He crossed his arms and watched as she brought the stick up to her lips. _

_As she took a drag and tried to inhale the smoke, she quickly realized that she should have started off slow. She started coughing up a storm and handed the cigarette back to Daryl. _

_Daryl couldn't help but laugh. She flipped him off. _

_"Hey, wasn't my fault. I tried to talk you out of it." _

_After her coughing fit was over, she reached over to grab her jar of shine and took a drink from it. "Next time I wanna try somethin' new that involves smokin', make sure you do a better job at talkin' me out of it. Just remind me of the little coughin' trip I just took and that should do the trick." _

_He shrugged his shoulders as he put the cigarette out on the floor. "I dunno about that. You're pretty stubborn." _

_"So are you." The corner of her lips tugged up into a sly smirk as she looked up at him. "Maybe that's why we're so perfect for each other." _

Liz snapped her fingers in front of Beth's face and pulled her out of her trance.

"You okay?" Liz asked.

Beth nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinkin'."

"Oh," was all Liz said before she began to ramble on, "I think I found a way out."

Beth's eyes widened. "Really? How?"

"Laundry duty. The washer and dryer are down in the basement. There's a small window down there. That'll lead us to the back of the house where John's truck is. The only problem there is that we don't have the keys, so-" Beth cut her off.

"I can hotwire it." She said and silently thanked God for Merle Dixon.

"Okay, that's good. Once we get in the truck, they're gonna hear it start. It's loud. You know that. So once we're there, we gotta move fast. I'm pretty sure John keeps guns and shit in the floorboard. You can drive and I'll keep us safe and in the clear."

Beth nodded as Liz spoke.

"This ain't gonna be a piece of cake, Beth. We're probably gonna have to hurt people. Kill people."

Beth didn't like the sound of that. But it wasn't because she felt bad about it. She wouldn't. She didn't like the fact that she was so okay with the thought of having to kill someone.

"We can do it. We have to. I have to get back to my family."

"How do you know..," Liz sighed, "How do you know they're even still alive. I'm not sayin' that they aren't, but you don't know that for sure."

"They're alive. We're gonna find 'em. And when we do, we're comin' back for Amelia and these people." Beth said.

Liz quickly shook her head. "No way. Beth, once we're outta here, we gotta stay out. We can't risk comin' back and endin' up right back where we started."

"You don't know my people, my family. They're strong. We're strong, you and me. We can't just let these people stay here in a place like this. It's the end of the damn world, it doesn't need to be made any worse for them by bein' held against their will in someplace they don't wanna be." Beth protested.

Liz didn't say anything after that. She just gave Beth a nod. She knew she was right.

Later on that night, Liz and Beth told Amelia that they were going to take laundry duty. Amelia praised them for being so eager to work and told them to go right ahead.

Before Liz and Beth started gathering up everyone's dirty clothes, they went back to their room to gather their things. Beth put her journal and pen into her back pocket, and Liz grabbed her necklace with a sharktooth hanging on it off of her bedside table and put it around her neck.

Liz smiled as she took a look in the mirror to admire the necklace. "My boyfriend, Aidan, gave this to me on our first Valentine's Day together. Most girls want candy, stuffed bears, and love notes. But me? I wanted this. I was shocked when he gave it to me. I didn't think he'd remember."

Beth's lips curved into a smile as she listened to Liz speak.

She brought a hand up to touch the necklace that Daryl had given her awhile back. But when she touched her bare skin instead of the necklace, she could feel her heart starting to crack and break. That necklace was the only physical thing that she had left of him. And now it was gone.

"C'mon. If we're gonna do this, we need to do it now." Beth said and started to walk out the door.

Liz followed closely behind her and helped gather everyone's clothes before heading down into the basement.

The two girls were beginning to get anxious. Their plan was practically foolproof, but they were still a nervous wreck. Beth tried not to think about what would happened to her and Liz if they got caught.

They threw some of the clothes into the washer and turned it on. They needed something to make noise so that no one would hear them open the window. But just as they were about to start making their escape, Amelia walked down the stairs.

"You're doin' an excellent job, girls. I'm so proud of the two of you." She looked at Liz and Beth with a smile on her face as she walked toward them.

She lowered her voice before she spoke again. "I thought this might make things easier for you."

She held out her hand and placed something into Beth's.

When Beth opened her hand, there was a key inside. And although that would definitely make their plan go by a lot easier and a lot faster, this confused her.

"Why are you doin' this?" Beth asked.

"Because I want you girls out of here just as much as you want yourselves out of here. If I can't get out, at least I can help you two. Now go. John's in the shower so you'll have some time if you get a head start now. Be safe, girls."

Beth wanted so desperately to take her with them. This woman didn't deserve the hell that she went through on a daily basis. She couldn't worry about that now, though. She had to worry about getting herself and Liz out of there. She had to worry about finding her family, about finding Daryl. She'd come back for Amelia and the others later as soon as she could.

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to Amelia's cheek before mumbling a quiet, "Thank you."

Amelia gave the two girls a nod before heading back up the stairs.

"You ready to do this?" Liz asked.

"Hell yeah." Beth replied.

Liz stood up on top of the dryer and opened the basement window. It creeked a bit as she did. They were so afraid of someone hearing them open the window, and it didn't help that their minds made the noise a lot louder than it actually was.

Liz went out first, then Beth. Once they were out, they ran around to the back. John's truck was there and full of weapons, just as Liz had predicted. Beth got into the driver's side and waited until Liz was in the truck and had a gun locked and loaded in her hand before looking over at her.

"Everythin' good?" Beth asked, making sure that Liz was okay with everything that they might have to do to make it out of there alive.

"Everythin's good, Beth. Start the truck and let's do this." Liz said, her lips forming into a small smirk.

Beth gave her a simple nod before putting the key into the ignition and turning it to start the engine.

The truck made loud, roaring sounds and Beth was sure that anyone or any walker within a ten mile radius could hear. So she stepped on the gas as quickly as she could and started to drive in the direction toward the road.

There were four guards at the front of the gates, and when Beth looked in the rearview mirror, John, Amelia, and everyone else was running out of the house. Beth tried to keep herself calm and focused.

"John's too far away to catch up to us, it's the guards we need to worry about. Take down the two that are in front of the gate that are comin' our way." Beth ordered, stepping on the gas and revving the engine.

"You got it, boss." Liz said, aiming the small gun that was in her hand and doing exactly as Beth had instructed.

Taking down the two guards made it easy for Beth to knock down the front gates and drive through them. They were out. They were safe.

Liz wasn't about to take any chances. She stuck her head out the window and shifted herself around so that everything that was behind them was in her sight. She took down the two remaining guards and then aimed the gun for John. But instead of aiming for his stomach, or legs like she'd been doing with the guards, she aimed for a straight up headshot. And that's exactly what she got. He wasn't a threat to them anymore.

Part of her felt bad for doing it because, after all, he was Amelia's husband and she had lost so much already. This would be better for her in the long run. It may have been the end of the world, but she was going to be able to live again for the first time in a long time.

After she was sure that John was down, she put her head back inside of the car and turned to look at Beth as she spoke.

"I gotta get back to the gas station I was at with my sister." Beth said, slowing down the truck a bit as she tried to read and follow the signs on the side of the road.

"You think she'll still be there?" Liz asked.

Beth shook her head, but didn't take her eyes off of the road. "No. I know she's not. They probably waited on me for a few days, but when I didn't come back, they had to move on. We'll go there and stock up on food and water, things we need. Then I'll try to track 'em and see where they're headed."

Liz brought her knees up into the seat and against her chest. "You can track?"

Beth shrugged. "I ain't as good as Daryl, but I'm decent. I can find 'em."

"Well then, Mrs. Dixon, I'd say we're in pretty damn good shape." Liz said, smiling at the thought of being around people again. Good people.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Daryl and the rest of the group had finished setting up everything in the school within just a few days of them being there. They decided to use only the first floor for now. There weren't that many people so there was really no need for the second floor right now. When they found more of their people, they'd see what they could do about cleaning it up so that they could use it.

They were using the mats that Glenn and Merle had found in the basement as beds for now. It wasn't much, but it was something. And something was always better than nothing. They'd go out on runs to find real beds as soon as everyone was completely settled in and as soon as they were one hundered percent sure that this place was going to last. And if that turned out to be the case, they'd need to find trucks to haul everything in.

The generators that were in the basement powered quite a few things. One of those things being the showers in the locker rooms. They all practically jumped for joy at that discovery. They also powered the washer and the dryer that were in the laundry room, originally there so that the kids who played sports would be able to save their parents the trouble of washing their sweaty clothes. Now it would be for them to wash the dirt, grime, and blood off of the group's clothes. They were beyond thankful for the generators, they just hoped that they'd be able to find enough gas to keep them up and running.

The cafeteria was well stocked which meant that they wouldn't have to make runs for food or water for a long time. They also found out that one of the generators that was in the basement powered the stoves. They didn't know what they were the most excited about; having a roof over their heads, the ability to shower again, clean clothes, or a hot meal in their stomachs.

The library was across the hall from the cafeteria. They'd never be bored again, that was for sure. They were positive that they had enough books so that they could read a new one every day for the next ten years. Browsing through all of the books made Daryl smile. Not at the thought of being able to read books again, although that was a small part of the reason, but because he couldn't wait to see the look on Beth's face as soon as she saw this place.

There was a music room down the hall from the library. He knew that she would eat that room right up. There were a few pianos, guitars, flutes, and lots of other instruments. He couldn't wait to show her this room. This would be where most of her time was spent. She'd spend it writing songs and singing for Judith. And when everyone was asleep and it was just the two of them left awake, she'd sing for him.

Everyone had already started fixing up the classrooms that they had chosen to stay in to their likings. Daryl had done the same. He'd taken four of the mats from the basement and placed them in the left corner in the back of the room under one of the windows. There were cabinets in the room and he emptied out the one closest to the bed-o-mats. He knew that Beth would have emptied it out as soon as she got there because she'd want closet space, so he just did it for her.

When he discovered the music room, he'd found a battery powered radio and a few CDs. He couldn't lie, he was excited to be able to hear music again. He knew that Beth would be, too. So he took it with him when he went to set up their room and placed it above the mats in the windowsill.

Part of him felt uneasy about setting up the room and getting comfortable with this place. He'd done the same thing when they'd gotten to the prison and look what had happened. He thought back to one of the first real conversations that he and Beth had a few days after they first arrived there.

_He wouldn't sleep in a cell. He downright refused the idea. Rick and a few others had tried to convince him to change his mind, but he wasn't having it. He wasn't sleeping in a damn cage. So he took what few belongings that he had and made a place for himself in a corner at the top of the stairs. _

_It wasn't just that he didn't want to sleep in a cell, though. He was afraid to. He wasn't about to make himself at home and get comfortable with the place just to have to leave._

_Daryl had overslept one morning and was out like a light. Which was a rare occasion. Part of him was always awake and always aware. But not that day. _

_Rick had noticed how much hard work that he'd put into clearing the fences the night before. Daryl stayed out even after everyone else had went to sleep. He wanted to make sure that this place, and that everyone inside, stayed safe. And if that meant putting in a few more hours of offing walkers, then so be it. _

_Rick let Daryl sleep in until a little after noon. He didn't want to wake him, but he needed his help. He decided to get a headstart, though, so he'd given Beth the task of waking him up. _

_Beth gave Rick a simple nod, telling him that she would do it. He thanked her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before heading outside. _

_Beth took a short, deep breath before she began her walk up the stairs. She wasn't sure that she wanted to wake Daryl up. He wasn't exactly the most friendly person to be around as soon as he woke up, and that was when he woke up on his own. It was hard telling how he was when someone else did it. She shook her head as she reached the top of the stairs. _

_When she got there, what she saw was a sight for sore eyes. Daryl was just lying there, fast asleep. She could see his chest slowly rising up and down. And she wasn't sure why, but watching him breathe, seeing him completely at peace, was the most beautiful thing that she'd ever seen. _

_She didn't want to disturb him. She wanted to lie down beside of him and just watch him sleep. She'd barely spoken two words to this man in the whole time that she'd known him. But when they did speak, her heart did flips and her eyes glowed. _

_She knew that them not speaking on a regular basis was a good thing, though. She knew that he'd never see her the way that she saw him. He probably saw her as a child, as someone who was weak. But when she looked at him, she saw everything good and everything beautiful that this messed up world had left to offer. _

_Beth shook her thoughts away. She didn't come up here to think about things that would never happen. She came up here to wake Daryl up and that was the end of it._

_So she crouched down on the ground next to him and gave his shoulder a gentle shake. _

_"Daryl, wake up. Rick sent me." _

_Out of pure instict, Daryl's eyes sprung open and his hand shot up to grab her wrist. _

_Beth's eyes widened and she jumped as he grabbed her. _

_Once he realized what he'd done, he immediately felt like shit. He wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep and forget what he'd just done and forget that the world as he knew it was gone and was never coming back. _

_He quickly released his grip on her wrist and rubbed his eyes. _

_"Jesus, Beth. I'm sorry." He said, sitting up from his spot on the floor._

_She shook her head and looked over at him. "Hey, don't worry about it. I get it. Gotta protect yourself, right?"_

_He shrugged. "Guess so." _

_"Anyway," She began, "Rick's the one who sent me. He said he needed your help with somethin'." _

_Daryl nodded as he stood up to pull on his vest and to grab his bow. When he looked out the window, the sun was shining so bright he had to bring a hand up to shield his eyes._

_"What time is it?" He asked, looking down at Beth. _

_Beth stood up from the ground and rolled her shoulders into a shrug. "I dunno. Little past noon maybe." _

_The expression of confusion washed over Daryl's face. "Rick usually wakes me up at dawn."_

_"Guess he thought you could use the rest," She said, "Better late than never though, right?"_

_He nodded and placed a hand on his lower back. "Mhm."_

_Beth watched as he rubbed his back and said, "Sleepin' on that floor can't be easy on your back, or any other part of your body." _

_Daryl shrugged. "Better than sleepin' on the ground on the side of the road somewhere."_

_She nodded in agreement. "I guess so." She didn't want to pry, but she had to ask. "Why don't you get yourself a cell? I'm sure the beds would be more comfortable than the floor." _

_He didn't know what possessed him to do it, but he told her the truth. He didn't try to cover it up with the excuse of not wanting to sleep in a cage. "Don't wanna get comfortable in a place that I may not be in tomorrow mornin'. _

_"But wouldn't it be better to have at least one good night of sleep? One night of bein' happy and relieved? Even if we aren't here tomorrow?" She sighed and then continued on, "My daddy always says, "If you don't have hope, what's the point of livin'?" I don't think there's a point in livin' without hope. It ain't gonna do you any good to sit around here and mope and wait for the next disaster to strike." _

_She started to walk down the stairs and stopped once she got halfway down them, then looked back up at him. "If you change your mind, let me know if you need any help settin' up a cell" _

_He watched as she continued to walk away from him before turning around to look at his things that were lying on the ground. He shrugged as he shouldered his bow and started to walk down the stairs and outside of the prison. He'd take Beth up on her offer and get everything moved into a cell as soon as he and Rick came back inside._

Daryl was yanked out of his thoughts as Carl knocked on the door and entered the room.

"I thought you might want this back." Carl said as he handed over a polaroid picture to Daryl.

Daryl's eyes widened as he looked down to inspect it. It was a picture that he'd taken of Beth back at the prison with the camera that Glenn had found while they were out on a run once.

She was sitting on the bed in their cell playing the guitar that Daryl had found for her. As soon as she'd heard the camera snap, she'd given him hell over it. She told him that it needed to be ripped up and thrown out but he refused. He carried that picture of her everywhere he went and when he realized that he didn't have it with him when the prison fell, he was heartbroken. Not only had he lost the picture, but he'd lost the person in it as well.

He looked up from the picture and down at Carl. "Where'd you find this?"

"After shit started going down at the prison, I ran inside to look for Judith. I found the picture at the bottom of the stairs. You must've dropped it or somethin'. I figured you'd want it back, so I got it for you." Carl explained.

Daryl nodded and half-smiled at the young boy. "Thanks."

"Now we just have to get the girl that's in the picture back." Carl said.

"We will." Daryl said, putting the polaroid picture back in its rightful place in a pocket on the inside of his vest.

The next day after making sure that everyone was settled in, Daryl prepared to set out to look for Beth. He'd gathered up a small bag of food and supplies for the road. He knew it could be awhile before he found a car that he would be able to use.

He'd explained to everyone where he was going and what he was planning to do as soon as he woke up that morning. Merle volunteered to go with him and suggested that they leave after breakfast. Of course Daryl wanted to skip the meal and go out right away, but he was no good out there hungry. He needed to be at his best if he intended to succeed in finding his girl.

Daryl was almost finished eating when Maggie came and sat down beside of him.

"I'm goin' with you." She said.

He looked up from his food and over at the eldest Greene. "Like hell."

"Daryl, she's my _sister."_

"I know and that's exactly why you ain't goin'. I've already lost two Greenes, I don't plan on losin' a third." He said and stood up from the table.

Maggie followed behind him. "Losin' them wasn't your fault."

Daryl scoffed and threw his empty, plastic container of cereal in one of the trash cans. "Ain't lookin' for an argument. I know what I know, you think what you think. You're not goin' and that's the end of it. I'll bring her back."

"Don't blame yourself for losin' either of them. It ain't your fault. If Beth heard you say somethin' like that, she'd have your ass." She continued to speak before he could get a word in, "I'm goin' with you, whether you like it or not."

Daryl let out a frustrated sigh. "Bein' stubborn must run in the family."

Maggie smirked. "Yeah, I think it's hereditary."

Daryl shook his head. "You goin' isn't a good idea. If I'm out there lookin' for her, I can't be distracted by tryin' to keep you safe. It's bad enough Merle's goin' with me."

Maggie sighed. She knew he was right. If he felt guilty for losing Hershel and Beth, he wouldn't let Maggie get hurt. He'd die trying to protect her. He couldn't lose anyone else. Especially not the last standing member of the Greene family.

"Bring her back to us." Maggie said, placing a hand on his soulder.

He gave her a nod before he started to head out of the cafeteria. "Will do."

Daryl and Merle walked for hours before they finally found a car that they were able to use. It had a reasonable amount of gas and two walkers inside. They quickly took care of and disposed of their unwelcomed road trip companions.

Daryl was in the driver's seat with Merle in the passenger's. They didn't have a trail to follow and this wasn't going to be easy. But the end result would be worth it and they knew that. The only lead they had were the tire tracks back at the gas station. They went straight, so that's the way that Daryl decided to go.

"What makes you so sure that the car kept goin' straight after that gas station?" Merle asked.

Daryl shrugged. "I'm not sure. But it's the only lead we got, so we gotta take it."

Merle nodded in agreement. "It's gonna be dark soon and this piece of shit car don't got no headlights. Maybe we should park it 'til mornin'."

Daryl shook his head. "No way. It ain't exactly like we're gonna run into a traffic jam."

"Look, I know you wanna find her, but-" Daryl cut him off.

"Save it. I'm not parking the damn car. You wanna sleep? Fine. I need to find her. God knows what she's been through since the prison. " Daryl said, not taking his eyes off the road.

Merle didn't say another word. He just scoffed and leaned his seat back.

Daryl was thankful that his brother was finally sleeping. He'd be able to get some peace and quiet and actually be able to think. He thought he was going to have to end up gagging him and locking him up in the trunk.

Hours passed and everything was quiet. Everything excpept for Daryl's mind and the occasional sound of moaning whenever they passed walkers. It was pitch black because of the car having no headlights but Daryl didn't mind. He liked the dark. But when he caught sight of a small fire on the side of the road, he slowed the car down and nudged his brother's arm.

"You're interuptin' my beauty sleep, baby brother. This better be important." Merle groaned as he leaned his seat back up.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Ain't enough beauty sleep in the world to help you."

He parked the car and pointed out the window. "There's a fire."

"Well," Merle said, beginning to open the door, "Let's go see what's cookin'."

Daryl grabbed onto his older brother's shirt. "Are you fuckin' crazy?"

Merle looked at his brother with a smirk.

"Don't answer that." Daryl shook his head. Before he could protest any further, his brother was out of the car.

They cautiously started to walk toward the glowing fire. But as they got closer, they saw two figures sitting in front of it and Daryl's heart stopped. Even in pure darkness, he'd know those blue eyes anywhere.

His eyes filled and spilled over with tears as he dropped his bow on the ground and started running.

"Beth!" He called out as he ran.

And as the blue-eyed figure stood up from the fire and he got a clear glimpse of her blonde hair and rosey cheeks he nearly collapsed to the ground. He'd found her. He found Beth Greene.


End file.
